The Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba has led the Global Open Government Partnership delegation to the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning Headquarters for a high-level ministerial meeting which explored issues of transparency, institutionalization of the OGP in government, and implementation of its principles.
Present at the meeting which held in Abuja on Tuesday, 26th July, 2022, were the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Open Government Partnership CEO, Sanjay Pradhan, OGP co-chair, Aidan Eyakuze, and members of the support unit.
Shortly after, the OGP delegation and the Minister, met with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, to discuss achievements recorded by OGP Nigeria since President Muhammadu Buhari signed Nigeria into the partnership and measures to build on those successes.
Speaking at the meeting, Prince Clem Agba highlighted the progress made in promoting transparency, including the recent approval of Nigeria’s membership of the Beneficial Ownership Leadership Group by President Buhari, as well as the digitisation of the Monitoring and Evaluation process with the launch of the Eyemark application.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha commended the Nigeria (OGP) Co – Chair (State Actors), Prince Clem Agba during the visit of the OGP Global CEO Support Unit, Sanjay Pradhan and his team, at the Cabinet Secretariat in Abuja.
In his opening remarks, Mustapha appreciated the OGP Global for druming up support for the sustainability of the OGP programme in Nigeria.
Among other activities, the delegation visited the Abuja Municipal Council (AMAC) to further enlighten them of the core purpose of OGP in Nigeria.
During his speech, OGP CEO, Sanjay Pradhan who commended Nigeria for being selected as member of the OGP said that it is not every country that can be part of the initiative as a country has to merit it.
He however lauded Nigeria for capturing the vision of OGP and running with it so far, maintaining that a relationship between the citizens and government has to be built beyond election, as citizens need to have a voice in Budgetary process, to build truth and transparency.